The Reds Pass the Cards With a 7-2 Win

I'm a Cardinal fan but that's Colerain Cardinals.

The Reds pushed past those dirty birds from St. Louis with a 7-2 rout, taking the series last two games.  The crowd cheered the final out.  Then cheered as the logos that depict the standings behind the rightfield bleachers were rearranged with the wishbone "C" on top.

Bronson Arroyo and Scott Rolen with three RBI, led the way but they had plenty of support.

Arroyo gave up two runs but got them back himself with a two-run single after Cardinal manager Tony La Russa had Ryan Hanigan, the only Red without a hit walked in the sixth inning.

Orlando Cabrera laced the first pitch of the game down the rightfield line for a double.  Rolen homered to right and the Reds never looked back.

In his second at bat Rolen hit a ground ball through the huge hole between first and second. 

"That's Scotty's stroke up the middle, opposite field hitter.  He uses the center part of the ballpark.  That's why he's such a good hitter.  That why he's good in RBI situations.  Guys that use the whole ballpark especially the middle.  He works on it."

The old Reds would have been trying to hit the ball out for the second time.  Rolen was given the opportunity to take credit for going the opposite way but said, "He jammed the ____ out of me.  It's good clean living."

Arroyo pitched the third complete game for the first place Reds this week.

The first place Reds.

"I don't think I've heard that since I was six," said Arroyo, who was born in 1977.  Maybe he meant six months.

"It's been a long time.  It definitely means more to this club than it would if we did have a winning club for the last few years.  We've got to stay in it the whole time.  It's huge for us.  If we can stay withing arms reach for the confidence of the guys around here that haven't played on a championship or playoff type team."

The Cardinals threatened in the first and fifth innings but Arroyo rose to the task.

Jon Jay doubled with one out.  Dusty Baker elected to walk (see previous posts) Albert Pujols to face Matt Holliday.   "You're never crazy about facing Holliday.  Albert can hurt you but there's no guarantees," Baker said.  "The double play was huge."

"I haven't pitched a day game in a while.  I was cold in the first inning. We walked Albert which we need to. Holliday is such a dangerous hitter to get the double play was nice."

Skip Schumaker singled to start the fifth.  Jason LaRue walked.  With the Reds expecting Penny to bunt them over, he hit away and rolled a single to left to load the bases.  Arroyo induced another ground ball that forced Penny at second while Schumaker scored.  Votto fielded a one hopper and threw out LaRue at the plate.  Then Arroyo struck out Jay.

"The bottom of the lineup is the one part of the order you can't let beat you.  I put myself in a jam I shouldn't have been in.  It was getting to the top of the order.  Albert could have come up and changed the whole game," Arroyo said.

As for the single by Arroyo that broke the game open.......

"Walking Hanigan is definitely the right move but there's no guarantees," Baker said.  "You can make the right move and it doesn't work.  You play the odds the best you can and hopefully you come out ahead 75 percent of the time.  You have to have the right personnel to make moves correct.  That's a huge part of the equation too."

"They walked Hanigan.  You've got to expect that.  He beat me with a fastball the last time they were here.  I thought he would try to get ahead, hard. I tried to stay back and make contact and not try to kill it."

The Reds haven't been in first place this late in the season in four years.

"We're not starting the playoffs yet," Baker said.  "We have to keep doing what we've been doing, getting good pitching and defense."

"It means we're playing good baseball," Rolen said.